These are photos taken last night on a drive through Coupland, Texas, a community of around 300 a few miles south of our Taylor home. Looking at the sky, one would assume a storm was coming, but it did not. We could use the rain though. The steeple in two of these photos is St. Peter’s Church of Coupland, a beautiful edifice. This post opens with a black-and-white image. Stripping away the color can sometimes clarify and simplify. 
Even though cotton is sprouting throughout our area of the Blackland Prairie, many fields of corn remain. Farmers are working hard to get their corn harvesting behind them. . Many, if not most, will be harvesting cotton very soon. Because we’ve not had as much rain as we’d like, cotton is coming in a little slower. In the opening photo, a farmer, raking cornstalks from a stripped field, gets off his tractor to manually clear some bits of stalk imbedded in the rake pulled by his tractor. It’s interesting that he never seemed to notice the camera’s presence as he went about his task. I know a lot of farmers, but this gentleman and I have yet to meet. Hopefully we will someday. Note that all the photos were made on a stretch of county road near Bartlett I like a lot. Not all on the same evening, either. The green covering in a couple of photos is cotton. The crops coexist quite well. 
This old truss bridge crossing over the San Gabriel River was already long-retired when we moved to East Williamson County, Texas in the summer of 2009. Replaced by a more modern conveyance, I was happy to see it running parallel to its replacement. It returns us to an earlier time when things were simpler and bridges had character. In recent years, it’s been a popular place for curiosity-seekers, most of them respectful of its history. On this recent summer visit, I met a spider who seemed not one bit bothered by my presence, continuing to spin its web. After a few minutes I prepared to head home, but not before taking a couple of shots of just the water as it meandered east, temporarily dammed at Granger Lake, but eventually meeting up with the Brazos, then the Gulf. 
Even as the sun went down tonight over the prairie, you could feel the heat. Today was either our 16th or 17th straight day of triple-digit temperatures. I love the sun, but not the heat. 
Now we have another special day, World Photography Day. Add it to the list of other “days,” i.e. World Ice Cream Day, World Doughnut Day, etc, etc. Here’s the thing, friends. Every single day is photography day. Tonight’s photos were taken in Granger, Texas, about 40-plus miles northeast of Austin, but only ten miles from our Taylor home. I love Granger, a town of a little over 1400 (at least until the next census) in East Williamson County, Texas. Granger has been a subject pretty often in the ten years we’ve been back in Texas. Three of the photos here are of Granger’s S.P.J.S.T. Hall, on West Davilla Street downtown. It’s been here, along this brick-paved street, since 1909. Granger is a community filled with Czech culture. S.P.J.S.T. chapters are integral to that culture in Texas. The letters, in Czech, are Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas. In English: Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas. The first S.P.J.S.T. chapters came about in 1897. Today, Texas has 104 active lodges. Granger’s, No. 20, is one of those. The last photo is a simple street scene made before I packed up my gear last night. The steeple belongs to Saints Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church, a part of this community for quite a long time. This is my World Photography Day offering to you. 
Since a friend mentioned Mager Cemetery a couple of years ago, it’s become one of my favorite cemeteries to document. Nestled under a grove of trees in Beyersville, in far southeastern Williamson County, Texas, it personifies the beauty of the Blackland Prairie. On recent visits I’ve discovered some living residents here …. chickens. Right after getting out of my car last week, a squawking ensued from one of those pretty trees. It took me a while to find her, but there she was, disturbed that I was there. She wanted me to leave … so I obliged. The final image was taken after driving west on F.M. 1466, a tank (stock pond) shining in the evening light as I drove toward Coupland, then home to Taylor. 
Much of this day was spent at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, where free pet adoptions were the order of the day for the Clear the Shelter event. Our shelter in Williamson County has had no-kill status for a few years, but the numbers for pets needing homes grows each day. This is the 5th year for Clear the Shelter, with our shelter partnering with KXAN and NBC Universal to make it happen. Dogs, cats, and even rabbits were available free of charge. That “free” included spaying and neutering, vaccinations and chips, in case your four-legged family member wanders away from home. These are a few images made today for the Williamson County Sun. 
Tonight I took photos at a summer concert series performance by Elvis Presley impersonator Mike Elliott, held on the square in Georgetown, Texas. It’s fitting to have this week’s concert pay tribute to Elvis on the 42nd anniversary of his death, August 16, 1977. Included here: a 3-year-old enamored with the music; a couple engaged to be married enjoying a dance and a kiss; a sleeping 7-month-old safe in the arms of his aunt on this warm Texas summer night. In August 1956, for my 4th birthday, my parents gave me a 45rpm record player. Along with the player the the record “Hound Dog,” released by Presley the month before. Big Mama Thornton was the first artist to record “Hound Dog” in August 1952, but Elvis made it a gargantuan hit. Within weeks of Elvis’s death, I lost my mother, too. I will always admire Elvis. 
Once upon a time school years began with more consistency. When I was a kid, a long time ago, it was an event that began after Labor Day. These days, it can vary quite a lot. These photos were made today at Mitchell Elementary School in Georgetown, Texas. In metro-Atlanta, where we used to live, classes began weeks ago. Right up the road from us, in Granger, I don’t think classes begin until late-August. Anyway, the first day of school is something I’ve enjoyed documenting for many years. These photos were made for the Williamson County Sun. 
I was on the road early this morning en route to first day of school in Georgetown when I saw what you see here. A cloudy evening last night cancelled out any plans of an almost-full moon image, but a little after 6:30a.m. the Sturgeon Moon glowed in the morning sky above an abandoned farmhouse surrounded by recently-harvested corn. The light on the windows is courtesy of the eastern sky as sunrise approached. Included with the photo I prefer are a tighter version, plus the sky offering up the light. It was a good morning. 
